


Laundry Buddy

by exovelvetwriters



Category: EXO (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, EXOVelvet, F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life
Language: Filipino
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28893270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exovelvetwriters/pseuds/exovelvetwriters
Summary: It’s three in the morning and two strangers decided that it’s the best time to do laundry.Genre: Slice of Life, Prompt: Scent
Relationships: Kim Yerim | Yeri & Kim Jongin | Kai, Kim Yerim | Yeri/Kim Jongin | Kai
Kudos: 2
Collections: EXOVelvetWritersFest 2.0





	Laundry Buddy

It’s three in the morning but Yeri’s already busy loading her dirty laundry onto the automatic washing machine. She put on a bit of the laundry detergent and then let the washing machine do its magic.

Some may find it weird to do laundry during the wee hours of the morning but Yeri’s the opposite. She may be the only person in the 24/7 laundry shop on the ground floor of her condominium building but she didn’t mind. She likes the silence the time gives her. She also didn’t need to be conscious of people seeing her undies tumbling inside the washer or people judging her for keeping her ten - year old pair of worn but very very comfy pair of pajamas.

Lastly, having the place all to herself means she could also enjoy the smell of her favorite detergent. Actually, it was her Ate Irene’s favorite, which she somehow acquired after spending a good three years with her in the college dormitory. 

Weird, but just the smell of that flowery and cottony detergent is enough to take her back to years ago when the only problems she had was whether to take a nap or study for a quiz or to ditch Joy’s party invite and join Wendy for dinner instead. She was also reminded of that one time that her Ate Irene had just changed all sheets for freshly washed ones in their dormitory, only for Seulgi to puke on the bed that night for having too many drinks.

Unknowingly, Yeri was already chuckling to herself as she remembered the chaotic things they did in the dorm. She failed to notice the door swing open as another customer has decided that it was also his thing to wash laundry at three in the morning.

  
  


Jongin found another customer who seemed to be pretty occupied with her world at the corner. He took a quick look at her, just to make sure she’s not some kind of apparition, and then proceeded to the other end of the room to do his thing.

Jongin assumed that this would be easy. That’s what the advertisement said, anyway. He thought he could just toss his clothes onto the washer, put in some coins, and then voila! His clothes will be washed and dry in a few minutes.

Little did he know that he also needed to manually turn on the water source and also put some detergent in. 

He fished his phone out of his pocket to google how this worked. Apparently, adulting only didn’t include working an eight-hour shift every day and managing his finances, but also mundane chores he deemed unimportant before like washing clothes. If only he didn’t have an important meeting this afternoon, Jongin would never think about doing laundry on his own; even in a place where it’s supposed to be  _ automatically _ washed.

“Need help?” He heard a voice say from a few meters. He looked up from his phone and saw the chuckling lady earlier looking at him with doe eyes. She smiled at him and pointed towards the washing machine. “You seem like you don’t have detergent, either.”

Yeri didn’t want for him to say anything and just went on and grabbed her remaining laundry detergent from her side. She came back to him seconds later, holding the box in her hands. 

“Konti lang naman yung laundry mo, I can give you some detergent.” She said. “You don’t mind if I --” Yeri paused as she realized it must have been really weird to be approached by a stranger and do their laundry. She laughed at herself for that and quickly apologized. She can sometimes be too friendly towards other people, even if they were strangers.

“I actually really needed help,” Jongin admitted. He scratched the back of his head in confusion and then laughed along with her. 

Yeri nodded her head in response and then proceeded to teach Jongin how to operate the machine. At each step, Yeri found herself laughing louder as Jongin was too clumsy for his own good. He was too generous with water that it ended up overflowing from the machine. Luckily, Yeri was quick enough to turn off the faucet. Even with the detergent, he has put in a little more than needed that she had to grab his hand to stop him from pouring more.

“Alam kong mabango but it would take forever to remove the detergent from your clothes kung ganyan karami ang ilalagay mo.” She explained. 

Jongin sheepishly smiled and put down the box on the side. He then loaded his polo shirt and pair of black pants he needed for his meeting this afternoon. Yeri told him it’d only take less than an hour to finish since there wasn’t much to wash.

“Hmmm.” Jongin inhaled as his clothes were tumbling inside the drum. He smiled to himself and looked at the lady who was standing beside him. “Weird how certain scents can bring back memories, no?”

Yeri’s brows met for a second but eased as soon as she saw the smile form on his lips. “What does this smell remind you of?” She asked out of curiosity. It was only a while ago when she reminisced a lot. She wondered what the smell of laundry detergent reminded other people of.

“Mom.” He answered simply. There was a small smile on his face, but Yeri understood that there was much more than that. She didn’t need to ask further to know what his one-word answer meant. She saw him pocket his hands and his shoulders fall.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin the atmosphere.” He apologized as he noticed the change.

Yeri smiled softly at him. “Wala yun.”

Just then, she heard the click from the machine, signaling that her clothes were done. She left his side and proceeded to take her now dry and clean clothes from the washer. 

“Hey.” He called her from the other side. Yeri looked up after loading everything back into her bag and met his gaze. “Salamat.” He genuinely smiled.

“At least marunong ka na.” She answered back with a smile. “You’ll hear a click sound just like what it did for mine a while ago. Tapos okay na yun. Just press the same button near the lid para makuha mo yung clothes mo.”

“Understood.”

“You’ll be fine, right?”

“I won’t break the machine. Promise.” Jongin told her confidently. Yeri chuckled softly at that.

“I’ll see if that thing still works next week.”

“Same time?”

“Hmm. Maybe.”

Yeri smiled at him one last time before heading out of the laundry shop. 

Maybe next time, she won’t be the only one doing her laundry at three in the morning.

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments for our author! <3 You could also leave a like and share with your friends on Twitter! Just look for our festival thread on @exovelvetwrtrs.


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